#sorry I spent too long on this sdkjhflkjh

[metalbatandzenko]

While I usually like to imagine Garou becomes a pro hero, the idea of Garou going vigilante as his redemption path sounds interesting, as he doesn't have to follow "official heroes' standart" or working with people he doesn't really like.

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I think that being a vigilante is a step in where his character development will go next. I think the big question is whether he’ll stay there, or if it will be a jumping off point for pro-hero work.

Garou’s already playing the part of the unwilling vigilante (beating the shit out of that creepy HA Donor, punching the slime monster that planned on kidnapping Zenko, protecting Tareo multiple times), so I think it’s a natural extension to his arc!

I think an interesting parallel that’s going to come into play then is the parallel between Suiryu and Garou.

Webcomic spoilers ahead!

Given that Suiryu is a martial artist that’s implied to be on a similar level as pre-power-climb/hero-hunt Garou, and given their backgrounds as long time students and protege’s of martial arts legends who acted as father figures to them, I think the two serve as really interesting foils.

Suiryu in the WC is currently working with—and in fact is a lead member of—the Neo-Heroes as a professional hero, but he isn’t doing it for noble reasons: he’s solely in it for the money.

When he attacks Garou, he’s not doing it to “keep a dangerous monster off the streets”, he’s doing it for glory, and he’s doing it for pay. The dude’s essentially a mercenary.

Garou as a vigilante would be risking life, limb and a target on his back to do the right thing. He’s not a key player in some organization, but a free agent.

Pre-Bakuzan Distributed Ass Beating Manga Suiryu and Webcomic Suiryu delight in being stronger than their opponents and dominating them.

The s2 ova’s (whether you think of them as canon or not, I think they give a good look at the characters) show Suiryu take full advantage of Garou’s character freezing/the game glitching and uses it to end the match that up until that point had been a stalemate.

When Suiryu comes across Garou in the Webcomic, he activates his power suit to make sure he can crush Garou (though that doesn’t work out for him), then Suiryu blames the damage he himself caused on Garou.

This Suiryu—in many ways—lines up directly with both Tacchan and Garou’s hypothetical shitty hero that he believes deserves to be put out of commission. He’s a bully who delights in his own strength, creates conditions that guarantees victory (much like Superalloy tbh, who also gets slapped with a reality check by Garou, hmmmm...), then turns the role of aggressor onto his victim.

There’s also the fact that everything came easily to Suiryu: he rarely practices because he’s a martial arts prodigy, he’s handsome and charismatic, and he’s blessed with incredible strength and athleticism. He never had to “earn” his place as a Void Fist student: as the grandson of the man who created the form, his role as a student is really just to carry on the legacy.

Garou on the other hand, has had to fight, painstakingly, for every single ounce of skill and strength he has. His Monster Association Arc is literally him repeatedly pushing himself to the brink of death and growing stronger because of it. Garou was not “born in” to the right family, he climbed the hundreds of steps to Bang’s dojo alone, seemingly abandoned by his parents, and scrapped his way to the top of Bang’s class.

Suiryu’s goal is to get strong enough to have fun and have an easy life, with little regard for others. Garou’s is the opposite: he plans on permanently painting a target on his back in order to give humanity a common enemy (which is. a stupid idea but whatever Garou, you might call yourself a genius but you’re just dumb)

For Suiryu’s “efforts”, he’s recruited as a hero. For Garou’s, he’s viewed as and transforms into a monster.

Two fun wrinkles here are Manga Suiryu’s development and desire to be a good hero who helps people like Sneck and Max helped him, and the existence of Suiko.

I’m excited to see how this pans out.

#Anonymous #sorry I spent too long on this sdkjhflkjh #suiryu #garou #thoughts